Shunyata Venom USB should not be making this difference

[Octavian]

Anyway, to make a long story short, I'll never forget the column in which Mike Silverton reported his experiment with different speaker cables. For many years he'd denied the possibility that speaker cables could make a difference. There was NO WAY they could. It was *impossible* from an electrical engineering standpoint and from a commonsense point of view. Snake oil. Utter BS.

I don't remember what the subject speaker wires were - they might have been silver, for heavens sake - but he was honest enough to admit that he'd been wrong and that, in fact, speaker wires made a difference. A "huge" difference, for him. I appreciated that he was humble enough to admit that he'd been wrong. Though I've never, in fact, done much experimenting with wires.

Internet is full of formulaic, quasi-religious conversion stories like this. A crucial element of this genre is the idea that the listener (who had the epiphany) used to be a cable skeptic. This element is used to increase the credibility of the story ("even my wife could tell the difference" is another example the popular cliches).

But sadly, what actually happened was just another sighted test, with zero value.

 

[narabdela]

It's not like I'm trying to discover another universe or anything.

That might actually be a more fruitful line of research. A study of Quantum Physics leads to the conclusion that The Multiverse is a distinct possibility.

Whereas... (I could go on, but I suspect that whatsisname is lurking in the wings).

EDIT: He was!

 

[flutteringwow]

Internet is full of formulaic, quasi-religious conversion stories like this. A crucial element of this genre is the idea that the listener (who had the epiphany) used to be a cable skeptic. This element is used to increase the credibility of the story ("even my wife could tell the difference" is another example the popular cliches).

But sadly, what actually happened was just another sighted test, with zero value.

Very much like people commenting on things/products they have no direct experience of. The internet is full of arrogance and self appointed 'heroes', hifi forums more than most, just the way it is sadly.

The funny side to it is, most of these heroes always refer to sighted/unsighted tests, when in fact, once a person has a 'sense' removed, the brain operates in very different ways with different responses, hence why it is often used in interrogation methods, therefore it has potentially little validity in these particular matters.

What is more interesting from a psychological stand point is those people who designate so much of their time writing their circular rhetoric over and over again on internet forums, similar to elements of Only Child Syndrome 'wanting and needing to be heard', as if they will change the world with their opinion and cannot stop until they do, (which they won't, so it becomes a self perpetuated circular notion which I would presume adds to an unstable mental state or at the very least, personality disorders.

 

[EPear]

Internet is full of formulaic, quasi-religious

there is nothing quasi-religious in posts like yours, it’s purely religious

same people crapping same type of cable related OP’s threads where few are still willing to share their hifi real actual experiences

bits are bits … and noise is noise - USB connections are some of the most prone to the latter, go figure

 

[adamdea]

People often say that you can't really learn anything out of this sort of exchange. But they're wrong. I used to think that it was impossible for people to go round in circles for years (and I really do mean years) without advancing the point one inch; I've learnt that they can.

 

[Octavian]

The funny side to it is, most of these heroes always refer to sighted/unsighted tests, when in fact, once a person has a 'sense' removed, the brain operates in very different ways with different responses, hence why it is often used in interrogation methods, therefore it has potentially little validity in these particular matters.

You might want to consider the possibility that you do not quite understand what "sighted" means in this context.

 

[flutteringwow]

You might want to consider the possibility that you do not quite understand what "sighted" means in this context.

Oh I do, I was being semi-facetious. I know thats a narrative that helps understand things better, as you started pretty earlier on this thread (as you do on most of these product discussions) in a similar form. I'll ensure to use more emoji's next time for clarity!

I have done plenty of unsighted testing with cables, the results never differ because they ultimately can't, being that the results are audible. However, being over half your age, my hearing still has some youthful elements, I imagine once I get on a bit, those abilities will sure reduce and the audible differences will no longer be as or at all apparent. Such is life though, I am happy to embrace it for what it is.

Interesting that that's the only thing in that post that you commented on though.

 

[sq225917]

Does anyone here not understand that naim gear is want to instability unless connected with speaker cable of specific parameters? He could have at least chosen a load invariant amp.

 

[naimnut]

Does anyone here not understand that naim gear is want to instability unless connected with speaker cable of specific parameters? He could have at least chosen a load invariant amp.

Not sure who you are referring to. The only piece of Naim I still have in my system is a Naim cd 3.5. And, in the article I referenced, Mike Silverton certainly wasn't using Naim. He was using something else.

 

[DimitryZ]

I have done plenty of unsighted testing with cables, the results never differ because they ultimately can't, being that the results are audible.

Cool story, bro. The best example of circular logic yet. Reminds me of the slogans I used to see in building murals, when growing up in the USSR. They usually showed, Marx, Engels and Lenin, with the words "Our path is correct, because it is right."

However, being over half your age, my hearing still has some youthful elements, I imagine once I get on a bit, those abilities will sure reduce and the audible differences will no longer be as or at all apparent.

Ahh, the "your are old and deaf" argument. And a kind person said on this forum that you are subtle, not toxic.

 

[Yank]

Cool story, bro. The best example of circular logic yet. Reminds me of the slogans I used to see in building murals, when growing up in the USSR. They usually showed, Marx, Engels and Lenin, with the words "Our path is correct, because it is right."

Or Daffy Duck, who once said "I know it is true because it is a fact!"

 

[flutteringwow]

Cool story, bro. The best example of circular logic yet. Reminds me of the slogans I used to see in building murals, when growing up in the USSR. They usually showed, Marx, Engels and Lenin, with the words "Our path is correct, because it is right."

Ahh, the "your are old and deaf" argument. And a kind person said on this forum that you are subtle, not toxic.

I love that you are embracing our bromance bro!

Cool stories for all!

 

[notevenclose]

Bits are bits. Please.

All your bit are belong to us.

 

[notevenclose]

That might actually be a more fruitful line of research. A study of Quantum Physics leads to the conclusion that The Multiverse is a distinct possibility.

Hmm. An early proponent of such a theory was Hugh Everett III, who was typically dismissed by his contemporaries as something of a fruit loop. With the benefit of hindsight however... Still, for our purposes, he's better known as the father of Mark Oliver Everett, 'E' of the band Eels, and IMO one of the most interesting characters in rock, although to the best of my knowledge he's not yet expressed an opinion on high-end digital audio cables.

You see? It's all connected and it all comes back to music.

And that's my cue to go downstairs and put on an Eels CD.

 

[suzywong]

Seven pages in, and I’ve run out of popcorn…….

That was close….I’ve sent out for pizza and T***o are delivering more popcorn tomorrow.

 

[Frizzy]

On the subject of usb cables I got the ansuz d2 usb after trying out many others inc nordost thor, shunyata, tq, cardas clear beyond,high fidelity cables, and more, and yes they had different voices, some more different than others but for me ansuz sang sweetest; I’m now in process of getting a ansuz d2 Ethernet cable , s\h as new it’s in rare air, worth it, to me yes. It makes streaming a much more pleasurable, and as a one off purchase good value esp in relation to rest of kit it plays with. I never expect to need to buy another usb or Ethernet cable again.
I also spent considerable time finding a Usb cable that plays nice used the wrong way round (b to a) like cable used on my melco cd ripper, in end got fidata as designed to be reversed, so giving better rips,most sound worse this wrong way. Not a surprise I gather after speaking to tq and atlas cable people.
Ansuz are overpriced but the results (particularly mains products) can be spectacular, if you haven’t actually tried out at least a dozen top name products and a equal number of cheap ones how can you justify any opinion pro or con. I try not to have opinions on things I’ve not personally experienced.

 

[acass]

I'm not sure I get this sight argument.

If I see an expensive cable being installed then that will affect what I hear and I will be preconditioned to hearing an improvement.

But if I see good test results that will not precondition me.

If I think the music sounds better to me for any reason then that is all I ask for. After all the point of the music is to give you pleasant sensations, so regardless of how you get them it's done its job.

 

[mansr]

I'm not sure I get this sight argument.

If I see an expensive cable being installed then that will affect what I hear and I will be preconditioned to hearing an improvement.

But if I see good test results that will not precondition me.

No, either of those could bias your perception. The only way to be sure is to test without knowing which cable is in use. Or trust that USB cables just can't do what some would have you believe. Same way you trust that the plane you're boarding won't fall out of the sky.

 

[sq225917]

If you believe there's such a thing as a backwards usb cable I'd really love to hear what makes it reversed, usb being a bidirectional protocol and all.

 

[RossB]

No, either of those could bias your perception. The only way to be sure is to test without knowing which cable is in use.

To be sure of what? That in artificial conditions you cannot identify a small difference between two things?

If you think you are listening to identify a difference from a cable (unsighted or not), rather than just listening to music for enjoyment the way you normally do, that will also bias your perception.

Participants in a real double blind test - ie a reputable medical study with robust protocols, rather than the quiz show game that passes for DBT in hifi - are not the ones assessing whether or not the drug being tested is making a difference compared to the placebo. Imagine a medical DBT in which someone is given a cancer drug and then asked to say whether they can feel a difference compared to the placebo. It would be unthinkable, a joke. But that's how hifi "blind tests" work. These so-called double blind tests in hifi are pseudo-science of the worst kind. Clothing them in the language of science is at least as misleading as some of the more outlandish claims from the cable industry.